Quotes of the day

posted at 9:00 pm on January 22, 2012 by Allahpundit

“In [Team Romney’s] view, Gingrich has barely run a campaign. As they see it, Team Gingrich doesn’t have the money, professionalism, brains, or organization of the Romney campaign. They see the former Speaker as somewhat unstable and vulnerable to continued attack on issues of ethics and morals. And most of all, they see Gingrich as a candidate who owes his very existence to the never-ending series of Republican debates — and not much more…

“In the next few days, there will be plenty of analysis attributing Gingrich’s victory to other factors: his commanding performances in debate, his next-door advantage in South Carolina, and Romney’s now-traditional difficulties in the state. But after all the talk of ground game and debate war, there’s a simpler reason Gingrich won: On the stump, in town hall after town hall, across South Carolina, Gingrich has been a markedly better campaigner than Romney…

“Gingrich’s success here in South Carolina shows more than just a skepticism toward establishment Republicanism. It also shows a hunger for real substance in the campaign, for a candidate who will talk to voters and give them more than phrases like ‘I believe in America.’ Mitt Romney’s team of seasoned campaign professionals may not think Newt Gingrich has any business playing a deciding role in the race. But they better believe it, and they better take seriously what the Gingrich challenge represents — before it’s too late.”

***

“Conservatives are very frustrated, and rightfully so. Their feeling is that they play by the rules – they work hard, pay their taxes, raise their kids right – but what do they get for it? Their values are mocked on television and the movies, the media castigates them as a bunch of extremists, they pay taxes while half of the country does not, and the Obama administration took to demagouging them virtually from day one of his tenure. I know of what I speak – a few months back I was driving down the road and saw a sign in front of a business lamenting, ‘Where is the America I grew up in?’ I nodded my head in approval.

“Enter Newt Gingrich, the person on the debate stage who finally speaks truth to power. ‘Not so fast, John King!’ ‘Hold it just a damned minute, Diane Sawyer!’ ‘How dare you talk to me like that, Brian Williams!’ These are the sorts of thoughts that millions of conservatives have every week. And now here is Newt Gingrich actually saying it right to them. Never mind the fact that he is expressing indignation at liberals while sometimes offering not-so-conservative policies, or using it as a form of misdirection to turn attention away from his own questionable deeds. Conservatives everywhere love to hear somebody finally stick it to the elites.”

***

“In an ideal world, Romney would be a strong candidate. But it’s not an ideal world. In fact, it’s a downright mean, nasty, grubby world of imperfect men struggling to confront serious historical and philosophical forces while battling each other for power and prestige. Segments on the right have not entirely digested the notion that Obama and his party are running on a platform of contempt for America and ‘fundamental change’ for the future; it’s like they think the Dems don’t really mean it. And that taking the high road by confining the campaign to “jobs” will appeal to the ‘real’ America somewhere out there in the heartland. And that playing rough is beneath us.

“Newt played rough in South Carolina and won big. That ought to tell the GOP something. Whether it will is another story. If this loss tonight makes Romney a stronger, better, more articulate candidate, terrific. But he has to learn from this stunning defeat: The base is itching for a fight with everything the Obama Democrats stand for and they don’t much care who gives it to them, just as long as somebody does. Tonight, that’s Newt.

“As the late Al Davis used to say, ‘Just win, baby.’ And, as the Democrats say, ‘by any means necessary.’ It’s high time they got a taste of their own medicine — and understand there’s a lot more where that came from.”

***

“Yet the elites ignored the roar. After all, the roar came from the unwashed. It came from the fans of cockfights. It came from tea party folks and other such rabble. Inside the sterile cable studios and on their laptops, the pundits scored their debate and their election prospects without the roar. They have their little formulas about who has to raise doubts here and who has to score points there.

“What they don’t understand is what the roar means.

“The roar is passion. The roar is intensity. The roar is pent up frustration. The roar, put another way, is the national mood of conservatives. It is a roar that will demand a fighter. It will demand that those who want our votes must not cower in the face of the liberal template. If fact, it is a roar that demands that we do not accept any liberal templates.

“That’s why Newt has gotten all the roars, and why he has vaulted into serious contention only days after being written off.”

***

“But above it all we can hear the weeping, the wailing, the gnashing of teeth of the Republican establishment as Gingrich’s victory sends them into full-blown panic. I’m not talking about mere fear, nor normal nervousness. Not even the feeling you get when the captain says, “We’ve lost power in one of our four engines.’ No, this is worse. Worse even than when your doctor says, ‘I don’t like the looks of that shadow on the X-ray.’

“This is terror. Chest-clutching, breath-sucking, soul-shaking panic. This is your teenage daughter telling you, ‘I think I’m in trouble.’ This is a Turkish border guard pulling you into a holding room when you’ve got a baggie of coke in your pocket. This is what George H.W. Bush famously called ‘deep doo-doo.'”

***

“Contrary to the received wisdom up until now, Gingrich is the favorite in the Sunshine State. Yes, Romney has the financial advantage. Yes, he has been on the air with ads for weeks. Yes, there has been early voting in Florida under way for weeks, during which time Romney’s air of inevitability will have given him an edge. But Florida is a closed primary, the first contest so far in which only registered Republicans are allowed to cast ballots. And the state’s GOP voters are far more conservative and anti-Establishment than many people understand. This is especially true in the panhandle of northern Florida, where Gingrich is likely to take up residence for much of the time between now and the vote on January 31. But watch for Gingrich to play hard for the state’s Hispanic voters — and not just the Cuban-Americans who are thick on the ground in South Florida but also the polyglot Latino population around Orlando — by emphasizing his stance on immigration, which is notably more moderate than Romney’s. Between all this and the wave of momentum and free media coverage he’ll enjoy coming out of South Carolina, the former speaker, I think, has the upper hand, though not by a lot…

“If Gingrich wins Florida, the Republican Establishment is going to have a meltdown that makes Three Mile Island look like a marshmallow roast. Why? Because the Establishment will be staring down the barrel of two utterly unpalatable choices. On the one hand, Gingrich’s national favorable-unfavorable ratings of 26.5 and 58.6 percent, respectively make him not just unelectable against Obama but also mean that he would likely be a ten-ton millstone around the necks of down-ballot Republican candidates across the country. And on the other, Romney has shown in two successive contests—one in a bellwether Republican state, the other in a key swing state—an inability to beat his deeply unpopular rival. If this scenario unfolds, the sound of GOP grandees whispering calls for a white knight, be it Indiana governor Mitch Daniels (who, conveniently, is delivering the Republican response to Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night) or Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan or even Jeb Bush, will be deafening.”

***

“The buzz in Washington now is that the Republican Establishment fears Gingrich will cause them to lose the House and not get the Senate. Put another way, the current Republican leadership fears that the man who helped the GOP take back the House for the first time in 40 years and his allies in the tea party who helped take back the House in 2010 will cause the GOP to now lose.

“Were Gingrich to pull off an upset in Florida, the concern among GOP elites now would immediately become something closer to unadulterated panic. The grumbling about Romney would turn into the start of a Dump Mitt campaign.

Yeah, I got that it was metaphorical, but seriously, who would leave a cake out in the rain? That is messed up.

cynccook on January 23, 2012 at 1:40 AM

Whose heart, the cake, has never been left out in the rain, the sweet green icing flowing down? I think that’s the ultimate metaphor the songwriter had in mind. Again, a meaningful song or a complete farce, but I like it because it challenges mind and matter.

After all, Eleanor Rigby died in a church and was buried along with her name. Nobody came. Same kinda thing.

You mean the guy who’s 1 for 3 isn’t as good a campaigner as a Congressman who won his district over and over and over and over again?

2) Romney now using words like “failed leader” and “disgrace” to describe Newt. So all you Romney supporters who jumpped on Gingrich for getting p!ssy after his loss, you gonna be intellectually honest and criticize Romney for doing the same thing? Yeah…I thought so.

I’m in the city tonight. Now all the birds are quiet. How weird. It is strange to hear birds in the city much in the day, little loan at night. Dire life takes you places you never thought you’d go. See you tomorrow friend. : )

IMHO, it’s not a model of governing, or leading, or what a President typically does, UNLESS he does it now as part of his campaign. He could even call it “Contract with America” again. I’d love to see it. I’d have more faith in him if he did it. I suppose he already has a platform and economic plan, I just don’t know what it is.

Gingrich is leftism. At least half of him is, and very much so, as is clearly revealed by even the most cursory examination of his past pronouncements. Did history start just last month? How so many can fall for this Jeckle and Hyde, P.T. Barnum, and mainly because he roars, is astounding. I know we can’t all be Sherlock Holmes, but this is even something Inspector Clouseau would have figured out by now, even while being attack by Cato.

Oh goody, another STFU address !!!!
Wonder if the Dems will bring a Repub date to clap like untrained primates this time too ?
Who will BHObama insult this time ? other than Repubs that is. SCOTUS again ? White people ? Working people who pay taxes ?
Who will be seated with the Mooch? A union thug or a jihady ?
And how many standing ovations will there be ? less than 50 ? More than 75 ?
Will Barny Frank wear a bro ?
Questions questions :P

I’m sure that Jeb Bush, undisputed feudal lord of Florida, will give his blessing to Mitt and mobilize the peasants… er… Floridians to come out in droves for Mitt. If there is one thing we learned in this cycle, it is that endorsements — yes, endorsements! — make Mitt a better, stronger, and more alluring candidate.

Romney 2012: Still inevitable. Still awesome. Still fabulously, fabulously rich, and handsome, and neat, and totally presidential and stuff.

Segments on the right have not entirely digested the notion that Obama and his party are running on a platform of contempt for America and ‘fundamental change’ for the future; it’s like they think the Dems don’t really mean it.

Mark Steyn sums it up perfectly in his new article: “Mitt Gave Us Newt”.

Favorite line:

Why is the stump speech so awful? “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.” Mitt paid some guy to write this insipid pap.

Location: University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida
Sponsor: The Tampa Bay Times, NBC News, the National Journal and the Florida Council of 100
Participants: Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, Paul
==============================================

Just saw a Newt spokeswoman on Moaning Joe–Kelly Anne Conway. She was fantastic. Charming, cheerful, engaging, and darned attractive. I find it amazing when Moaning Joe has sensible conservatives on the show–her, Ryan, Rubio, Barrasso, Kyl, Sessions, and others–they invariably leave the MJ panel speechless. As usual, they cut to a commericial and return with panel of hair-on-fire liberals from The Nation, The New Republic, The NYT, the Daily Beast, and clips of comics making fun of Republicans.

Keep your eyes open for this surrogate: Kelly Anne Conway, mother of four.

Like Obama, Gingrich is a skillful demagogue and is able to bring his audience to a roar and make them dream of “hope and change”.

There is nothing new under the sun.

VorDaj on January 23, 2012 at 2:26 AM

I agree.
I have always liked Newt’s speeches.
He’s always right.
But what can he do?
I just don’t buy it.
I don’t care if the snake oil salesman is wearing red or blue, he’s still selling $hit under the guise it’ll cure all your ills.
Reagan himself made lots of mistakes.
But at least he took down Russian communism.
And he introduced more invasive farm programs & such.
So there you have it.
People in general just basically suck & they really hate missing their gravy train: Republican & Democrat & Independent ALIKE.
Humans are stupid.
They can’t handle freedom.
Bcs they are soooo ready to just pi$$ it away for some cheap trinkets.

As for the Romney camp, they seem to think Romney should win because he deserves it. Because it’s his turn. They don’t think Gingrich has put in the work. They think he’s too volatile and unorganized. Which may be true, but it’s also irrelevant if he gets more votes. In this case, lots and lots more votes. That’s kinda the way it works. I keep hearing how unpopular and unelectable Gingrich is, and yet here we are.

Like abused dogs, some people can never resist the red meat tossed their way, even if it means another beating tomorrow.

Adjoran on January 23, 2012 at 6:55 AM

The Gingrich facade will soon fall off. Romney is going after him full bore like Gingrich went after Romney on Bain. The difference is that Romney is using a conservative message and Gingrich uses the arguments of the progressives. Abraham Lincoln warned us about tricksters like Gingrich when he said….

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

Gingrich is the only candidate in the race that has a history of corruption and lying. He was ejected from the speakership by his own party. He is a Washington insider and after being drummed out of the congress, he spent the next 15 years as an influence peddler.

From the election results, Gingrich was only able to fool 40% of the voters of SC. 60% see him for what he is. Romney will continue to expose Gingrich for the fraud he is and Gingrich will have to continue to attempt to fool all of the people all of the time.

Romney will continue to expose Gingrich for the fraud he is and Gingrich will have to continue to attempt to fool all of the people all of the time.

csdeven on January 23, 2012 at 8:30 AM

And I’m sure someone will expose Romney for the fraud he is.
They all suck.
There is no hiding that fact.
No one wants to lead in America.
Why would they?
Politics only attracts the shifty.
And the few shining stars willing to try & do something about it are only mercilessly crucified.
We can really only win at the local level as we continue to press for things like using the 10th to free our states from the Federal Whore $$.

One doesn’t cross a sitting president who was once head of the CIA as NEWT did, and then try to make a come-back without getting some intentional heavy-grade, nasty ‘friendly fire’ lobbed at them. Newt was counting on that.

What the Republican Establishment does not realize is that remaining sane, tax-paying, law-abiding non-druggie, non-liberal Conservative Electorate (CE) are ANGRY.

The CE have watched Obama commit overt crimes, persecute the church, pillage our economy, collude with the Islamists (AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE) and walk all over the self-concerned, ineffectual establishment.

The CE have watched the Rep. Establishment NOT stand up to Obama or tell the TRUTH.

The TEA Party movement gave the CE hope for change, but they have been silenced, side-lined, ignored, reviled, and even called terrorists. You would think that paying down the debt and sound fiscal policies was an unspeakable horror.

NEWT gives the Electorate hope. He talks facts, common sense, ideas that work, have worked in the past, he knows US and Political history and does not need a teleprompter.

Most of all, NEWT speaks fluent (pre-PC) ‘American.’

Newt speaks the truth without fear of losing the election or of offending anyone.

Newt has challenged the validity of almost every media/elite agenda-propagandized PC fallacy of this century…and he’s done it unapologetically and effectively.

Newt is the anointed champion, the David, of the CE and the nation.

Newt is willing to walk into the battlefield without all the establishment armor, without a tele-prompter, just his sling and five little stones (which in the Bible represented the Pentateuch and Torah, the basis of all civilized law…the opponent of Islamic Sharia) to face the brazen rebellious, BULLY, Goliath (which is a fair and accurate appraisal of the situation, with the combined force of the corrupt, Obama machine, his Arab backers, the liberal agenda groups and the Republican establishment who really want conservatism less than liberalism.)

The RepEstablishment, media have not, and will not NOT do or say any of those things.

Flora Duh:Lol,and ugh,how worse will this get,(i kid). Can hand-to-hand combat happen,at the rate
in which this Primary keeps deteriorating
between Candidate Nominee Camps and Support
ers!(sarc):)

canopfor on January 23, 2012 at 8:38 AM

you have to wonder,..

The outraged Mitt supporters can’t post without calling Newt some variation of evil, while calling his supporters stupid. Yet, they support Mitt,.. which calls into question… how far are you willing to dump conservatism in order to win?

and we should support Mitt Why?

Because he’s pretty and the media love him?

That’ll last as long as it takes him to win, then he’ll get Newt’s popularity with the MSM, and he’ll say nothing, while smiling that half sick smile. Mitt so far can go savage on other republicans.. he has yet to do it to Obama which is why he fails.

McCain tried Mr. Nice,.. even to turning his back on the Sarah smears, never defending her, until AFTER the election. It got him nothing, and the Mitt crew keeps on digging.